<b>Olympic course-setters determined</b>

By

February 3, 2006

Olympic course-setters determined{mosimage}Mike Morin of New Hampshire will set the second run of the men’s Olympic giant slalom at the Olympic Winter Games. Morin is the head coach of the U.S. men’s GS/SL team.

‘I’m fired up’ said Morin. ‘It’s cool. It’s a good opportunity to make sure there’s a good course that’s suited to our guys.’

Morin was selected when the FIS World Cup coaches’ working group met last Saturday at the World Cup in Garmisch, Germany.

‘I don’t set courses to trick guys’ said Morin, adding that several World Cup courses this season have seemed designed to deliberately intimidate athletes or throw them out of their rhythm. ‘When the courses have a rhythm and good flow, it’s good for our guys.’

Morin characterized the Sestriere GS course as extremely steep out of the start, with a crucial transition to a flat and then another pitch with two knolls in the middle of it.

John McBride, who is Morin’s counterpart on the DH/SG squad, is the reserve course-setter for the super G should some incident befall Andreas Evers of Austria, who was chosen to set that course. Evers is the longtime coach of Hermann Maier, as well as the rest of Austria’s overall-title contenders.

For both the men and women, downhill gates will follow a pre-established course that was used for the test events (2004 World Cup Finals for the men, and the 2005 San Sicario World Cup for the women).

The coaches’ working group of the women’s World Cup will meet this weekend at the tech races in Ofterschwang, Germany, and select the women’s Olympic course setters.